U.S. Stocks Move Higher On Micron News, Upbeat Economic Data

(RTTNews) - Following the pullback seen in the previous session, stocks moved back to the upside during trading on Thursday. The major averages gave back ground after an early rally but managed to end the day firmly into positive territory.

The S&P 500 rose 23.11 points or 0.4 percent to a new record closing high of 5,745.37, the Dow advanced 260.36 points or 0.6 percent to 42,175.11 and the Nasdaq climbed 108.09 points or 0.6 percent to 18,190.29.

The early rally on Wall Street partly reflected strength in the tech sector, with chipmaker Micron (MU) helping lead the way higher.

Shares of Micron spiked by 14.7 percent after the company reported better than expected fiscal fourth quarter results and provided strong fiscal first quarter revenue guidance.

Stocks also benefited from the release of upbeat U.S. economic data, with a Labor Department report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly edged lower in the week ended September 21st.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims slipped to 218,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week's revised level of 222,000.

The dip surprised economists, who had expected jobless claims to rise to 225,000 from the 219,000 originally reported for the previous week.

With the unexpected decrease, jobless claims fell to their lowest level since hitting 216,000 in the week ended May 18th.

The Commerce Department also released a report showing new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods were virtually unchanged in the month of August.

The Commerce Department said durable goods orders came in flat in August after soaring by 9.9 percent in July. Economists had expected durable goods orders to tumble by 2.6 percent.

Excluding a decrease in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders climbed by 0.5 percent in August after edging down by 0.1 percent in July. Ex-transportation orders were expected to inch up by 0.1 percent.

Sector News

Airline stocks turned in some of the market's best performances on the day, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring by 5.3 percent to its best closing level in over three months.

Southwest Airlines (LUX) helped lead the sector higher, surging by 5.4 percent after raising its third quarter revenue guidance and announcing a new share repurchase program.

Semiconductor stocks also saw substantial strength following the upbeat news from Micron, driving the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up by 3.5 percent.

Computer hardware, steel and biotechnology stocks also saw considerable strength, while energy stocks moved sharply lower along with the price of crude oil.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved sharply higher during trading on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index surged by 2.8 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index soared by 3.6 percent.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index shot up by 2.3 percent, the German DAX Index jumped by 1.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index crept up by 0.2 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries showed a lack of direction over the course of the session before closing slightly lower. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, inched up by 1.0 basis point to 3.791 percent.

Looking Ahead

Trading on Friday may be impacted by reaction to a Commerce Department report on personal income and spending, which includes the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge.